Swedish MEP Candidate Shuts Down Language Critics By Accepting Challenge To Learn Maltese
Camilla Appelgren, the Swedish MEP candidate for Partit Demokratiku, has pledged to learn Maltese ahead of the upcoming elections in May after being criticised for not speaking the language.
“To the ones thinking that evil words will crush me,” she started in a Facebook post. “I have this weird kind of personality. Tell me I can’t do it… And I’ll show you I can! Then what will you say? I’m crossing out your excuses one by one. Keep informing me about them!”
“She can’t even speak our language and will vote in our name,” one commentator had said in response to the news that she would be running on PD’s ticket in May’s MEP elections.
“I’m here to listen and I want to thank this person (who by the way also told me that my blood isn’t Maltese so I have no right to be here) for the advice! Today I’m picking up my Maltese studies where I ended them some time ago. Be patient, stick with English comments for a bit more, ok?” she ended jokingly.
Cami Appelgren has been widely praised for her focus on environmental issues in Malta
She announced her candidacy for PD in an announcement video filmed by the sea last week.
“Over the last few years, the degradation of the environment has alarmingly increased. Many people seem to have given up fixing a broken system. We deserve to look to the future with hope and optimism, not sadness and despair. We need to have a good future for ourselves and our children. It’s time for us to realise that we should not settle for less,” she said in a statement.